An in-game image of NCSOFT's mobile game "Lineage M" / Courtesy of NCSOFT

By Yoon Sung-won

NCSOFT's mobile game "Lineage M" is expected to post record first-month sales, drawing more than 10 million subscriptions in a month, according to industry sources Friday.

Though the company has not announced the sales generated by the mobile role-playing game in the first 30 days since its release on June 21, expectations in the market are that the company has already broken the previous record of 206 billion won ($183.85 million) which was set by Netmarble Games' "Lineage 2: Revolution."

"It goes without saying that ‘Lineage M' has already brought at least 250 billion won to NCSOFT," a game industry source said Friday. "It is a much expected result considering the popularity of computer version ‘Lineage,' which has remained solid for almost two decades."

NCSOFT said "Lineage M" attracted 5.5 million preorders before the launch. This means that the game has 4.5 million new user accounts registered to it.

In terms of profitability, "Lineage M" generated 10.7 billion won in sales on the first day of its launch and posted 13 billion won in daily sales on July 1, which is the largest daily sales record in the Korean mobile game market.

With its average daily sales estimated to reach 90 billion won, its total sales in the first month is likely to range from 250 billion won to 300 billion won, according to industry sources.

NCSOFT updated the in-game item trading market feature on July 5 as it had promised its users before the launch. To do so, the company had to separate the game into two versions ― one for adults only and the teen version without the trade feature _ following government regulations.

"Even after the update, both the adult-only version and the teen version remain in the top 3 of Google Play's top grossing chart," another game industry source said. "This means that the game's sales remain solid or are even increasing."

According to NCSOFT's regulatory filing, the original computer version of "Lineage" alone generated 375.5 billion won in sales last year, compared to its 980 billion won of total annual sales.

This game is also contributing to change of the landscape in the mobile game market. Since the original computer version has mainly been played by gamers in their 30s and 40s, "Lineage M" has encouraged them to move to the mobile platform.

According to mobile app market tracker WiseApp, 51 percent of "Lineage M" users were in their 30s. Users in their 40s held 19 percent.

The explosive popularity of "Lineage M" also had a negative side. Fraudsters targeting those who seek to purchase rare in-game items have already flown into the game, resulting in multiple item trading scams. Similar fraud cases, involving the original version of "Lineage," have been continuing since 1998.